Search Results for: atlantic records

A week after paying Mariah Carey nearly $30 million to walk away from her contract, EMI Recorded Music CEO Alain Levy took the wraps off a massive restructuring at the top of the company’s North American unit, marking his most aggressive moves yet to yank the British music major out of a persistent financial slump. Levy’s plan infuses EMI’s U.S. executive suite with new blood: His longtime deputy David Munns becomes chairman and chief executive of EMI North America, overseeing the flagship Capitol Records and Virgin Records America imprints. Veteran producer Matt Serletic has been named chairman and CEO of… Read more »

Butch Walker, formerly of the Atlanta-based group Marvelous 3, has been signed by Arista Records to an exclusive worldwide contract, it was announced today by Antonio “L.A.” Reid, President and CEO, Arista Records. Underscoring his success with M3, Butch surfaced as co-writer of the #1 Billboard Modern Rock track “Right Now” by Baltimore’s SR-71, and as co-writer of four tracks on “Atomic,” the new album from Orange County alt-darlings Lit. Having produced upcoming records for Injected (on Island/Def Jam Records) and Bowling For Soup (Jive), Butch is turning his attention to the completion of his debut album as a solo… Read more »

Fresh from his blockbuster performance before U.S. military forces stationed at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, Lava/Atlantic recording artist Kid Rock has just scored RIAA platinum with his new album, “COCKY.” The announcement comes less than one month after the release of the Kid Rock-produced collection, which includes the current hit single, “Forever.” Recent weeks have seen Kid Rock continuing to demonstrate his support of American military personnel, including a very special appearance at San Diego’s Naval Base Coronado, where he signed autographs and posed for pictures with thousands of U.S. sailors. In early December, Kid Rock and his Twisted… Read more »

The music industry finally received the holiday gift it had been hoping for this week, as the album charts got a formidable one-two punch from alt-rock superstars Creed and the perennially popular “Now That’s What I Call Music” compilation series. “Weathered” (Wind-Up), Creed’s follow-up to the platinum blockbuster “Human Clay,” sold nearly 900,000 copies its first time out, according to SoundScan data for the week ended Nov. 27. Those numbers made “Weathered” the biggest bow since ‘N Sync’s “Celebrity” shifted 1.9 million out of the gate last summer. Nipping at Creed’s heels was the eighth installment of the “Now” series… Read more »

For certain punks, there was no Bad Religion from 1996 through 2001. During that dark period, co-songwriter Brett Gurewitz split the seminal act he co-created with his pals in high school. He was disenchanted with the band’s major-label deal (at Atlantic), overwhelmed by the sudden hugeness of Epitaph – the label he founded to release Bad Religion records and eventually home to Rancid and the Offspring – and increasingly strung out on smack. The band would release two albums in his absence, both guided solely by the vision of Gurewitz’s estranged collaborator, Greg Graffin. Both records – 1996’s Gray Race… Read more »

Rapper DMX and hard rockers Incubus landed one-two this week atop the SoundScan album charts for the week ended Oct. 29, the last week before the heavy-hitters start flooding the marketplace in time for the holidays. DMX’s latest for Universal/Def Jam, “Great Depression,” sold 440,000 units in its first week out, topping Incubus’ fourth album, “Morning View” (Epic), which logged 266,000 in sales. The Dave Matthews Band’s live disc, “Live in Chicago 12-19-98 at the United Center” (RCA) was the only other debut to crack the top 10, landing at No. 6 on sales of nearly 131,000. Last week’s No.… Read more »

Brooklyn-born rapper Jay-Z’s latest LP, “Blueprint,” led a torrent of new releases at the top of the album charts this week as America’s record buyers continued to shop despite Sept. 11’s terrorist attacks. The Island/Def Jam release flew off shelves last week, shifting nearly 427,000 units, according to data compiled by SoundScan. Sales of “Blueprint” were powered by the near-ubiquity of its first single, “H.O.V.A. (Izzo),” on both urban radio and music television. Island/Def Jam’s chart dominance continued in the latest session with Nickelback’s “Silver Side Up,” which came in at No. 2 with 178,000 copies sold. “Silver Side Up”… Read more »

Alice Cooper has been named the recipient of this year’s Living Legend Award from the International Horror Guild, marking the first time the Guild has reached beyond the literary world to give someone the honor. Previous winners have included authors Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, and Clive Barker, among others. The award is given to those “who have made a meritorious and notable contribution and/or have substantially influenced the field of horror and dark fantasy.” Cooper’s award will be handed out Saturday (September 1) at Atlanta’s Hyatt Regency Hotel as part of the weekend-long Dragon*Con, one of the largest conventions in… Read more »

“Alive,” the first single/video from Atlantic recording group P.O.D.’s upcoming new album, “SATELLITE,” rocketed into the No.1 position on today’s installment of MTV’s Total Request Live. The controversial video – directed by Francis Lawrence – made its MTV debut last week on the August 20th episode of TRL, with the band on hand in the studio to introduce the clip. The much-anticipated “SATELLITE” arrives in stores nationwide on September 11th. The video’s remarkable success can be attributed to the support of both P.O.D.’s loyal fanbase – known as the “Warriors” – along with equally enthused newcomers, many of whom were… Read more »

Rob Thomas stepped off an airplane feeling like a bona fide rock star, with nearly 12 million copies of his band’s freshman album sold and the follow-up effort following closely behind. But when he handed his passport over to a control officer, she asked: “Are you Rob Thomas of Santana? The guy who sang ‘Smooth?”‘ “I was like ‘No! I’m Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty,”‘ he recalled during a recent interview. Thomas’ work on 1999 smash “Smooth,” which earned Santana record and song of the year at last year’s Grammy Awards, has gained him more celebrity than the success he’s… Read more »